


Black Flash

by Khorevis



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Character Death, F/M, Happy Ending?, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-05 16:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13391712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khorevis/pseuds/Khorevis
Summary: Ladybug is falling. Her yo-yo lost, her hopes lost.But Chat Noir isn't going to let her. If someone has to die, it'll be him





	1. Chapter 1

Adrien woke up late, for once. Patrolling with Ladybug wasn't something that left much to sleep, and he also had to finish his Physic homework, that would have been piece of cake, hadn't he had to do it around two or three in the morning.

Of course, for Adrien Agreste "late" meant at the sound of Nathalie knocking at his door, announcing him that breakfast was ready and that in thirty minutes he had to be leaving for school. It wasn't the best way to wake up, but surely the prospective of seeing his friends again helped him to get out of bed and dress up quickly.

After a very quick but composed breakfast, he was in his car, ready for a new day of school. After all, the only times where he actually had time to think freely were when he was Chat Noir, or at school. All other times were busy with photoshoots, or fencing lessons, or piano lessons, or Chinese lessons, or any other lesson his father had scheduled for him. So it was normal for him to be actually excited to go to school, something uncommon in teenagers.

The Gorilla, whose name he had never learned, was already waiting for him outside the gate. As usual he drove without a word, even if Adrien smiled a tiny bit when he found a small bad with a croissant on his seat. The Gorilla was indeed laconic, but he cared about the boy, also because Adrien had very few other adults to care about him. He was kind of... a big, silent friend who slipped him a treat or two here and there and sometimes helped him get some free time when he was getting too stressed.

Of course, the job contract forbade all those things, but as bodyguard and driver, the Gorilla had noticed how lonely Adrien was. Also, he knew that there was nothing a croissant from the Dupain-Cheng bakery couldn't fix, and every time he visited the bakery, he made sure to buy one for Adrien too. Also, the owners' daughter was Adrien's best friend, so thinking of her could light up his employee's son a bit.

The drive to the school was uneventful, even if pleasant thanks to the chocolate croissant, and soon Adrien was walking right across the entrance of the school. Behind him, he heard someone calling his name. Nino. He began to turn, but since he wasn't looking ahead, he crashed into someone else, knocking the poor student off their feet.

He looked down and extended a hand. «You okay? Uhm, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going...».

  


Marinette woke up pretty early. Of course, that meant she woke up at her phone's insistent ringing alarm, that would have woken up half of Paris. In normal condition, the alarm would just have made her sleepy, but for some reasons the prospective of being able to arrive at school in time, for once, made her prepare quickly and depart from the house just as fast.

After ten steps, she remembered she had forgot her schoolbag at home, and came rushing back to retrieve it.

After other twenty steps, she remembered she hadn't farewelled her parents, and ran back to fulfil her duty.

After twenty other minutes, she was finally at the school. She didn't see Adrien's car, so she figured out he must have already arrived. She groaned. She had hoped that, maybe, she could have caught a glimpse of him before they had to start the lesson. She hated to have to take her attention away from Adrien to focus on the ongoing lesson. She could understand she had to study a few things, but Physics? She hated Physics, unless it was Adrien the one to be helping her with it, and could live without it.

Even in the hallway, she didn't see him. Nor Alya. Nor Nino. Good, all her best friends weren't in sight, while Chloe was. Fortunately, she wasn't looking in her direction, so maybe she still had the time to turn and disappear.

She didn't like Chloe Burgeois one bit, and she knew the feeling was mutual. Not just that, she knew that Chloe hated her because she liked Adrien, just like the blonde girl did. And Adrien hung out with them and not with Chloe, and so her jealousy had increased during the year. Marinette could barely stand her when she was silent, surely she wouldn't have been able to stand her comments about her arriving to school so early.

But when she turned, she promptly met a firm resistance in the form of someone's chest, and since the resistance was stronger than her actual balance, it resulted in her falling on the floor. She brought a hand to her head, trying to stop it spinning, but it was difficult, especially because the someone she had just bumped into was no less than Adrien Agreste, standing upright with a worried expression on his face.

«You okay? Uhm, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going...».

«N-Nononono, i-i-it's o-o-o-okay, I-I m-m-m-mean i-i-it's my f-f-f-fault I-I-I...».

«Come on». He grabbed her hand and pulled her up, making her blush to the root of her hair. «I'm sorry. I heard Nino...».

And of course the DJ had to choose that moment, where Adrien was still holding her hand, to arrive and ruin everything. «Hey guys! Alya's gonna be a bit late, by the way...».

Adrien's hand left her own, forcing her to hiss a whimper, to greet Nino. «What do you mean, she's got a fever?».

«Yeah, kind of», frowned Nino. «Akuma fever. There's an attack at the Eiffel Tower and she was gone before I could even say a word».

Both Adrien and Marinette froze.

«Well, I...».

«Ehm, I...».

  


_«Hello, My Lady, you look wonderful in red and black, have I ever told you?»_ ,  was what she was expecting as she landed beside the black feline hero.

«Hey, Ladybug. Seems we've got a little problem», was what she actually received.

It was unusual for Chat to be serious, but not unheard of. Actually the first time she had seen him serious was also their first Akuma. The only Akuma they didn't immediately cleanse. He had talked her out from quitting and gave her hope back. She hadn't forgot the act, that had instantly marked him as her best friend forever.

The fact he was also extremely handsome, even with cat eyes -that were kinda creepy at first-, he was smart and cunning when he wanted to, and most of all he was loyal. Probably the most loyal person she had ever met. He had a strong sense of honour. He was kind. He was brave. He was sweet. She considered herself immensely lucky for having such a friend. And even if she didn't know his true identity, she was sure he wouldn't have disappointed her. He would still have been kind and brave and handsome and loyal and  _her friend_ .

His puns and flirts were his only bad side, together with the worrying frequency with which he threw himself between any threat and her. It was sweet and brave, yes, but it was also terrifying. Every time she could feel her heart skip a beat.

She glanced up at the point of the Eiffel Tower. Some crazy storm Akuma, judging by the clouds and lightings. Squinting her eyes, she saw a small figure on the very point of the tower, his hands raised as if in adoration.

« Did you got his name? »,  she asked. Alya always wanted names for the Akumas. She had her blog to run, after all.

Chat looked almost embarrassed for a second.  « It seems...  _Coup de Foundre_ »,  he mumbled. Then his embarrassment was replaced by sadness.  « I guess a proposal gone wrong... Well, I can't blame him for being upset ».

« No victim can be blamed »,  nodded Ladybug.  « But we have to stop him just the same. Ready? ».

« As always, My Lady »,  he grinned, his usual expression coming back to him.  « Let's do this ».

They run up the Eiffel Tower as fast as their legs and weapons could bring them, arriving within earshot in a minute.

« Finally, Ladybug and Chat Noir! »,  exclaimed the Akuma, turning to face them.  « I am Coup de Foundre.  Give me your Miraculouses, now! ».

Not Ladybug nor Chat cared to reply. The menaces were always the same. Instead, they came even nearer, trying to look for the akumized object. It was so easy.

In his right hand he was wearing a big yellow bolt-shaped ring. Unfortunately for them, he chose right that moment to call down a lighting from the clouds above his head. It lacerated the air with a deafening noise, not aimed at them as much as  at the metal they were wearing.

Chat Noir's staff.

Luckily for him, the Eiffel Tower absorbed much of the electricity. Unluckily for him, even the remaining was enough to sna tch the baton out of his hands and down the tower. Fervently hoping no one was standing below to receive a metal staff in the forehead, he turned just in time to see Ladybug being targeted by the Akuma. He wasn't that tough: he couldn't conjure lighting against the red heroine since she wasn't wearing any metal. However, he still managed to punch her backwards hard enough to give himself time to run back to the point of the Tower.

Ladybug anchored her yo-yo at the iron structure to launch herself in the air, just in time for a lighting to hit the tower, causing the string to incinerate to ashes. It wasn't the first time her yo-yo's string was severed -Simon Says, or maybe his name was just Simon, had broken it too-, but surely it was the first time it was severed with her in mid-jump.

And her jump was going to send her right over the edge of the platform.

Adrien couldn't allow that. She was his lady. She was his friend. She was his love. She was the only hope for Paris to come back to normal after the Akuma was defeated.

He knew such a fall would have killed her with or without the mask. He had to do something. After all, if Ladybug saved the day, he was allowed to save Ladybug.

His plan was crazy, and he knew it, but as he threw himself over the edge of the platform, just in time to catch her and fall down toward the merciless ground, his only thought was for her survival.

  


Marinette closed her eyes. It wasn't the first time she was in danger of death, but surely it was the last. Her yo-yo was still on the tower, and she was out in the air, so she couldn't use Lucky Charm. Just as she embraced herself for the impact -that was still long to come-, she felt two strong arms grabbing her.

Chat had come to be with her.

She knew he couldn't do anything about it. He had just done it because he didn't want her to die. Not alone. And since he couldn't purify the Akuma, he was doomed without her.

But as he flipped her so to make her look upwards and placed both his feet against her back, tensing up, she realized what he was going to do. She was a mess at Physics, but she knew a few things about forces and speeds. For example, a force that clashed with another force would create a third force with strength derived by the first two. If they were in the same direction, it would have been the sum of the previous forces. If they were in opposite directions, the difference.

Chat was going to try and send her back on the Tower, even if with many bruises and a few levels lower. But to do that, he would also have to throw himself even further away from the Tower, condemning himself to sure death.

Before she could try to protest, to tell him not to do it, he had already kicked her away, to life, while he plummeted toward death. His plan actually worked and she landed badly on another platform, watching powerlessly as her best friend and partner swirled in the air to look at her. And even with their distance, she could swear she heard his last words.

« I love you ».

She knew, she had always known, but how could Marinette be loved by someone as amazing as he was? It made no sense and so she had always relegated it as idolization, something not to encourage. In that moment, in his eyes, she saw the truth, and it was a truth far too painful for her to accept it.

He had really loved her.

She began to cry, but then a movement caught her attention back to Chat. Was he going to survive? Had he planned something for himself, too? It was so not him, but she couldn't help but hope.

« Cataclysm! »,  his voice came far and weak, as he activated his special power. She was surprised, because she knew he could do nothing with it to save himself...

And then the truth struck her again. He couldn't save his life, but he could save his identity. Even while facing death, he was thinking how to avoid being recognized.

Recognized by her. He didn't want her to witness to his de-transformation, to see who he really was only after his death...

He brought his right hand to his chest, and everything disappeared in a blinding flash of black light.

  


When she could see again, Chat Noir was still there, but he wasn't falling any more. A black surrounded him, covering him entirely. In a few seconds, she couldn't see anything but the dark light that had enveloped Chat.

And then the light turned to energy, exploding with such a force to bend the Eiffel Tower and  destroy every building high enough to be in his radius. The iron structure shook as if made of paper, and Marinette had to hold on an iron bar in order not to fall again. The Akuma seemed to have worse luck, because she could hear a loud thump, signalizing her that the Akuma must have fallen down a few platforms.

When the light was gone, Chat was there no more, and a single silver object shot up in her direction, landing perfectly in her open palm. A small silver ring.

Chat's Miraculous had come to her because he was no more. She had eventually lost him forever.

Burning tears swelled up in her eyes as she clutched the ring, as if it could give her back her Chaton. Chat filled her head. His smirk, his antics, his puns, his flirts...

...his kindness, his courage, his smile, his loyalty, his supporting presence, his  _presence_ , his eyes, the way he had always looked at her...

And only one was at fault.

She stopped crying. She would cry later. She would cry for days. Her dearest person was gone, and now she had to uphold what he stood for. She turned to face the Akuma, who had sneaked upon her until then.

« Hawk. Moth ».  Her voice was filled with ice, fire and venom. In her hand she was still holding the ring. Unconsciously, she slipped it on. Chat's ring. The only thing of Chat she had left. Hawk Moth would never have it.  « You. Will.  _Pay_ ».

The Akuma laughed at her, at her desperation and at her sorrow, but he forgot that if he had been akumized for love, then he was probably facing someone way more upset. Upset with him. Before he could end his laughter, a fist had already connected with his face, breaking his nose and hard. It was followed by a kick in the side and one in the stomach, that robbed him of all air. He had done so well until now, and yet now he was powerless.

  


Hidden in his lair, Hawk Moth was paralysed. He had gloated when Chat Noir had finally disappeared from the action, but his happiness had been burnt down by Ladybug's rage. For the very first time, he felt small, powerless and incredibly scared.

And when Ladybug finally stopped beating Coup de Foundre, when she knelt to face him directly, knowing that Hawk Moth was watching too, when she had said the most terrifying words of his existence...

« No place in this world will be far enough for you to hide from me, Hawk Moth. And when I will find you, I will make you suffer the same fate as my Chaton. I swear, I will use Cataclysm on you and your evil plans to conquer the world, the plans that took my Chaton away from me ».

... and even when finally the connection with the Akuma was severed because she had freed the butterfly, he couldn't stop being scared.

So scared that when he looked down, he realized he had just lost control of his bodily functions.

  


She capture the butterfly in one hand while she  climbed up to the top. Her yo-yo was still there, even if stringless. She opened it and placed the Akuma directly into it, purifying it. Then she looked at her weapon again. She hadn't conjured a Lucky Charm, so she couldn't use the Miraculous light. She took a deep breath and threw the yo-yo in the air, yelling  « Lucky Charm! ».

S omething came. But it wasn't red and black. It was the first Lucky Charm not to.

It was a miniature of Chat Noir. It was perfect in every detail. The only difference, apart from size, was that the statue was cold and dead, unlike the true Chat.

She was torn. Her magic could restore deaths caused by Akumas, but she had never tried to restore a death caused by Cataclysm. Especially not when the dead was a Miraculous wielder. If she had tried and failed, she would have lost Chat permanently. And she couldn't handle that. But if it worked...

Closing her eyes, she placed the ring on the floor in front of her and threw the miniature in the air. A flow of healing magic swept on her, fixing every bruise and cut expect the large, deep wound in her heart.

She still had her eyes closed.

A fit of coughing.  « M-My L-Lady? ».

She opened her eyes to see that the black-clad superhero who had always been at her side, had come back to her. She had her Chaton again.

Finally bursting into tears, she hugged him tightly and kissed him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiss and Reveal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know the exact boundaries between the ratings. Thin could be T or M.  
> I don't know.  
> However, "sabah-raei" asked for a reveal chapter...  
> Way more fluff. Way way way more.  
> Here it is.

The kiss didn't last long. Between Chat's paralysing surprise, her own sudden self-consciousness and the thought of Adrien, smiling, in her mind, she pulled away after just a couple of seconds. Nervously biting her lip, she stared at the ground, anticipating what would come next.

How could she do that to Chat? She loved Adrien. COMPLETELY and FOREVER. Her heart had a label with his name on it. How could she give hope to Chat like this, only to have to shot him down later? How could she kiss him and then try and pretend nothing happened?

«M-M-My L-L-La-Lady?». For a second, she felt a brief flash of amusement. Marinette wasn't the only one to stammer, then. She waited for him to continue, maybe to ask her what the hell was that, but he didn't say anything else. Just her nickname, and an unspoken question. Why?

Why? Because she _couldn't_ love him. She just couldn't. Adrien was the only one to have her heart. Nobody else. Nobody, not even Chat. Not even if he was handsome, sweet, kind, brave, selfless, sometimes even funny.

Not even if he loved her? That was a hard question.

But Adrien had given her the umbrella. _His_ umbrella. It was raining, and he gave her his umbrella because she had to walk home instead of going with a car. And he had never asked her to return it. Never. It was still in her room, the most precious of her treasures after the Miraculous. Adrien had been so kind that day. Adrien was still so kind. No one had ever been that kind...

 _W_ _ould_ Chat have given her his umbrella, had he found himself in Adrien's position?

She dared a glance at the boy in front of her and tried to imagine him at the exit of the school. Eyes and ears downcast, shoulders slumped, as he explained the misunderstanding. And then the hopeful shrug, then the offer. She imagined Chat turning and handing her the umbrella, a gentle smile adorning his face and pure kindness in his eyes.  He hated water, and she imagined how much annoyance he would feel at the sensation of the drops of rain falling over him, and yet he would hand her the umbrella to let her reach home dry.  Sh e imagined a lighting brightening the sky behind him, the thunder far away...

She felt her stomach recoil. Her heartbeat was basically going mad and she knew that, had she tried to speak, she would have stammered just like Chat, if not more. That was a real problem.

« M-My L-L-Lady? »,  he repeated. She raised her eyes to look at him, her inner trouble clear in their blueness. He saw it, saw how this was troubling her, how the kiss was troubling her. He searched in her eyes for a few more seconds, and then he looked away.  « We can pretend nothing happened »,  he proposed, his feline ear flattening against his hair.

She was taken off-guard. Was he... offering her to just pretend nothing happened? It had to be a joke, he was messing with her...

He had jumped down the Eiffel Tower to save her from death. He had cataclysmed himself to save her from the pain of seeing who he really was only after his death. And now he wanted to save her from her embarrassment, he was offering her lifeline out of her trouble. She would continue to love Adrien, he would continue to love her, and she would continue to relegate his love as worshipping. He would renounce to the realization of all his dreams for her. If she decided to accept his offer, every one of his dreams would shatter like glass under a hammer.

_He was ready to put everything he had and he hoped into the trash only for her_ .

Her head began to spin and she began to tremble. Fearing he had said the wrong thing, he grabbed her by the shoulder to steady her.  « My Lady, are you okay? I'm sorry, I... ».

H e couldn't finish the sentence. She was done having to hear him apologizing in fear she would be mad at him. She grabbed him by the front of the suit, in a very little kind but very practical way, and kissed him again, both to silence him and to kiss him. She had never thought she could  _want_ to kiss Chat. After all, he was her partner and friend...

But there was the little detail he was simply  _gorgeous_ .

And that he was  _so very kind_ .

And that he was so  _sweet_ .

And  _brave_ .

And  _gorgeous_ . Had she already listed that?

And  _selfless_ .

And  _loyal_ .

And  _hers_ .

Wait, that last thought was new. Since when Chat was hers? It was completely new, something she would have to sort out and think about later, at home with Tikki, because she couldn't trust just the first thing that popped in her mind. But it was difficult.

He was hers.

Chat was hers.

_Her Chaton was hers._

Well, she deserve a little possessiveness, right? She had saved him, so he was rightfully hers. But he had saved her life many other times, too. And another one right that night, so that meant that...

He was hers.

She was his.

_Her Chaton was hers._

_His Lady was his._

It made perfect sense. _Her_ Chaton was _hers_. _His_ Lady was _his_. It fitted perfectly. So perfectly that she completely lost her mind as he finally parted his lips and allowed -well, allowed is a big word. Let's say... she caught her chance- her to taste his mouth. Which she did immediately.

Meanwhile, she hadn't realized she had pushed him down on his back and had climbed on top of him until she found she couldn't deepen the kiss any more without suffocating him. And she was seriously annoyed by it, so she decided for a more _straightforward_ kind of approach.

That meant that she let her hands get lost in his hair, tugging at it and pulling him impossibly closer. God, when had she become _that_ hungry? But she didn't care, she just cared about him. And she mewled in pleasure as he finally began to respond, heating up the kiss and locking an arm around her waist. She almost scoffed. As if now she was going to pull back... _Simply_. _I_ _mpossible_.

His other hand found its way to her hair, pulling it loose, and for the first time, she was happier with her hair down that with her usual pigtails.

And then he pulled back. «M-My L-L-Lady, the timer...».

Again, he couldn't finish, because she wasn't done with him. And again, proving his own stubbornness, he retreated.

«Ladybug, I got less that a m...».

How dared him try to stop her kissing him? And the timer, well for all she cared it could go to Hell and never come back. She had her Chaton there, no bothering reporters and a sunny day to enjoy. And she knew quite a way to pass such a wonderful day.

«My Lmmmphff». His third attempt to speak was met by a third non-verbal silencing. She had never realized how endearing it was to silence someone -only Chat, to be precise- with her tongue, but she really liked it.

Only when a flash of green light blinded her for a second she realized what he was trying to do. And, to tell the truth, she wasn't particularly worried about Chat's identity. He would have been kind, sweet, brave, pun-loving, cheeky...

Adrien Agreste.

...selfless, loyal, so deliciously damnably kissable...

Wait.

Adrien Agreste?

She was basically sticking her tongue in Adrien Agreste's mouth. And it was obvious he liked it. But this did not change the fact that _she was sticking her tongue in Adrien Agreste's mouth!_

Very probably, she was going to faint.

And then _Adrien Agreste_ shrugged, knowing that he couldn't do anything to hide his identity any more, and returned to kiss her back.

She was definitely going to faint.

What prevented her from doing so was the bright flash of red light that washed over her, cancelling every sign of Ladybug and showing every sign of Marinette. Every single sign of the clumsy shy girl she had been just that morning.

Just. Her. Luck.

Just as she was kissing the two boys she liked -one only recently discovered as crush-, she would have to return to be the shy, clumsy, messy Marinette. It wasn't fair. Not at all. Not one bit. She didn't want to be shy, or clumsy, or anything else than clinging to his mouth and preventing him from going in every way she could. She didn't want to be shy.

And if she didn't want to be shy, then her shyness could go to Hell, for what she cared.

So she just decided that she wouldn't care. She just kept kissing him, senselessly and all, until both their breaths failed them and they had to part. That meant almost ten minutes of kissing, since they had been breathing with their noses.

After ten minutes of kissing Chat... or Adrien... now she could face the consequences of her actions.

The consequences of her actions were that he buried his face in the crook of her neck and bit her neck with enough force to make her mewl. Absent-mindedly, she reminded herself that _he_ was the kitty, not her.

A little annoying and annoyed voice chimed in. «You two are disgusting. I thought you had finished eating each other. Could you please stop making out so noisily on the top of a very public building? You were just lucky no one saw you».

It wasn't her Kwami. It must have been his. Evidently used to him, Adrien didn't stop, and the hand at her waist began to caress her side, slowly ascending...

She blushed as red as her superhero suit when he reached her chest.

«Kid, stop love-biting your girlfriend. Now. She didn't give you permission...».

«You can, yes you can». Done. Permission granted.

The black Kwami scowled. «Kid, love-biting and kneading usually lead to something way more serious. Maybe you should ask if that's okay...».

«It's okay! It's okay!».

«It seems your girlfriend is as much in heat as you are...». The Kwami was interrupted by a mighty slap that sent him flying several meters away. Behind him there was a pretty pissed off Tikki.

«Shut up, you ignorant! Let them enjoy this!», she snapped angrily.

The other Kwami went silent.

Marinette, instead, was anything but silent. «Adrien... please... we... should... really...». A little pause to mewl -again!- before continuing. «...talk... about... this...».

Adrien stopped. A gentleman as always.

His hands, however, didn't move from her chest. Not that she wanted to, just that she would really have liked to be able to focus.

«Adrien... Do you... W-Want this?». No, that wasn't enough. «W-With m-m-me, I-I m-mean».

He hissed slowly, trying to catch his breath. «Yes», he growled. Or rather, he purred. _He purred while not transformed!_ «Oh yes, Mari. With no one else».

Normally, it would have taken her way more to be convinced, but that wasn't normally, so she just took his word for true and pushed him back down, whispering Tikki to take the other Kwami and disappear for a while.

«Now, mon Chaton», she purred as the two diminutive gods hid. «I want to show you how much did I miss you».


End file.
